


The next day (will be alright)

by Kaddi



Series: Nightmares [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Gen, the thrilling sequel to "Is he alright?" in which Ryuji actually appears and Akira gets his hug, this is just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 05:16:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10780332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaddi/pseuds/Kaddi
Summary: Sequel to "Is he alright?", in which Akira has a nightmare about Ryuji getting hurt (no graphic descriptions). Cannot be read as a standalone!The next day is always fun when you're dead tired and can't seem to shake off the lingering sense of dread your nightmare gave you.





	The next day (will be alright)

**Author's Note:**

> originally i didn't really intend to write more but certain people bugged me to give Akira his hug so here we are. i did enjoy writing it though so no worries!  
> (i have [twitter!](https://twitter.com/KaddiCrescent))

He somehow makes it to the next morning. As exhausted as he is, falling asleep had sounded pretty tempting. But he learned long ago that trying to sleep again after waking up paralysed was about the dumbest thing he could do. So he stayed awake. Morgana tried to keep him company; ultimately he lost the fight against sleep. After ten times he stopped counting how often he opened and closed the group chat. No one was awake, sending inappropriate messages at inappropriate times. No one responded to his messages, which did wonders for his anxiety (it really didn't).

Sojiro calling upstairs whether he plans to go to school today or would rather live on the street makes him flinch. That's right, school. School. He really can't afford to miss it if he's not in mortal danger. A look at his phone tells him he looks like shit and he briefly considers wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes. But aside from making him look stupid and drawing unnecessary attention to himself, the teachers probably won't allow it unless he proves he has a special eye-condition forcing him to wear sunglasses. A quick glance at the time. Nope, he doesn't have time to visit Takemi to forge false proof. Isn't that why Sojiro raised his voice in the first place? Why didn't Morgana say anything? Oh. Morgana lies curled up on the bed, sound asleep. Seems the ordeal last night cost him a lot of energy too.

There's no time to spare though. He grabs his bag and unceremoniously stuffs Morgana in it. A quick trip down the stairs, a short greeting to Sojiro, and he's out the door on the way to school.

 

It's hard enough getting to school, with how he keeps falling asleep and accidentally bumping into people, but at school it's even worse. More than once he barely catches himself from falling out of his chair, can barely keep his eyes open for more than a few seconds. Even better, he can't stop thinking about the nightmare. No matter how often he tells himself it was just a dream, a voice in his mind keeps whispering “what if?”. He knows, if something really happened to Ryuji he'd know about it. But what does that help?

The moment the bell rings and people start moving about, his sleepiness disappears. Because fuck him. He feels around his front pocket for his phone only to realize that it's not there. Ah. He's been wondering why no one was sending messages during class. Someone clears his throat in front of him. It's Ann.

“Are you okay?” she asks. “You seem kinda out of it.”

That's putting it lightly. He shakes his head and pushes his hair out of his face, standing up.

“Have you seen Ryuji yet?” he asks instead.

Ann raises her eyebrows.

“No? What about him?”

Akira shrugs and lets his hand fall.

“He hasn't been responding to my messages.”

Ann's confusion turns into realization and she grins teasingly.

“Oh, that's nothing to lose sleep over. He probably left it in his bag and forgot it's there.”

She cackles. He hopes she's right.

“Well, I'll go check if he's here.”

Ann doesn't question him so he leaves her. She should eat something and not be concerned about him being tired. Well, it's something he'll have to get used to.

 

When he reaches Ryuji's classroom, he's not there. His stomach starts feeling queasy. No, this is nothing to get worked up over. He asks some of the students if they know anything about where he is. He's met with... varying responses. Some claim he went to the restroom, others say he's at the school store buying something, still others wonder if he even showed up today. Very helpful. He can't handle walking around that long, so he returns to his own classroom.

 

“Can you call him for me?” he asks Ann once he's back.

“Who? Oh wait, Ryuji? Sure thing.”

It only takes about five minutes before Ann hangs up with a sigh. She turns around to face him.

“He says he's helping his mom around the house. Apparently the sink broke or something and he's busy fixing it. He says he'll meet you at the usual place after school, though.”

So he isn't dead at least. That's good. He thanks Ann with a tired smile, and she smiles back.

Only a few more hours until he can leave. Only a few more hours until he'll be able to ascertain Ryuji's well being himself. He shakes his head. Right, just a few more hours.

 

It ends up being longer than he expected. When school ended a teacher scolded him about his lack of attention in class, Mishima came up to ask if he's okay (bless his soul, but it wasn't what he needed), and he walked into at least three walls on his way home. He feels even more exhausted than before, something he thought would be impossible.

Leblanc finally comes into view and he sighs. Home at long last. The doorbell chimes pleasantly when he enters and the familiar comforting scents of coffee and curry wash over him. Sojiro glances at him from behind the counter.

“One of your friends came by some time ago. I sent him up to your room.”

A bit confused, Akira just nods. Why would Sojiro send someone to his room? He was usually fine letting his friends loiter around the shop as long as they bought something, or just sent them away.

 

Ryuji is there, sitting on the sofa when Akira opens the door to his room. So Ryuji really is alive.

“Hey man, heard you were you longing for me?” he laughs, discarding a magazine and standing up.

He doesn't get any farther than that before Akira all but jumps him, pulling him into a tight hug with no intention to ever let go. Ryuji's warm. Ryuji's breathing. Ryuji's alive. Tears well up in his eyes but he forces them down. That's nothing to cry about. Of course Ryuji is okay, it was just a stupid dream.

“You okay?” Ryuji asks.

Akira shakes his head.

“Just hug me back you idiot,” he mumbles.

Ryuji laughs again, softer this time, and when he puts his arms around Akira everything is okay.


End file.
